


Tag, You're It

by Jiru_Ji



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-26
Updated: 2014-06-26
Packaged: 2018-02-06 08:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1852006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jiru_Ji/pseuds/Jiru_Ji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony has a guilty little pleasure no one's supposed to know about. He loves to play tag with his bots.</p>
<p>Steve finds this out and can't help but watch whenever they do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tag, You're It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yoshimars](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Yoshimars).



> Written for Yoshimars for the SteveTonyFest Gift Exchange.

The blue light of the holo-screens illuminate Tony’s face as he’s muttering to himself. His fingers fly over the keyboard and the screens while making small changes and inputting new variables.

“Run it again now, Jay.” Tony says with a final tap, leaning back in his chair and letting his arms dangle next to his sides. He absentmindedly watches the flickering images on the screen as he grabs his coffee mug.

When he finds it empty Tony mutters: “Oh, great. Just what I needed on top of all this.” And the cup gets put down with an angry ‘clank’. Running his hands over his face and through his hair, making it stand even more on end than it already is, Tony contemplates what to work on next.

SI still needed the designs for their new releases and the messages keep getting more and more insistent with the day. Really, the deadline was two months from now, why were they harassing him about it already.

Tony’s thinking was interrupted when Dummy tapped him on the shoulder. He lazily raised his eyes to meet the bot’s camera. “What?” Dummy tapped his shoulder again.

“The kitchen area is still intact,” Tony concluded after casting a quick look in that direction. “And you’re not carrying a smoothie so that isn’t it. I repeat, What?”

Dummy lowered his camera just a tad before insistently tapping Tony on the shoulder a few more times, with a little more force that before.

“No.” Tony says as he finally realises what the dumb bot is after and turns back to the screens.

Dummy taps him again, servos whirring.

Tony turns around again and fixes a stare right at the bot’s camera. “Oh, quit your whining. But fine, five minutes, and not a single second longer.”

Dummy gives him a last tap at that and quickly rolls away, wheels whirring happily. You and Butterfingers must have caught on to what was happening because they hurried to the far ends of the workshop.

“Okay, you little demented heap of junk. Think you can beat me, just like that?” Tony said, amusement lacing his voice. “Let’s see about that, huh.” His eyes darted from one bot to the other before he suddenly leapt up from his chair and towards Butterfingers.

Butterfingers managed to swerve away from Tony just in time, causing You to change course as well as he was about to zip past, allowing Tony to tap the bot on the support strut. “Tag, you’re it.” With that he darted away again in order to get as far away as possible from the three bots.

“Sir, I have run all possible scenarios. The current variables seemed to have brought the chances of failure down with 11 percent.” JARVIS remarked dryly over the screeching of three sets of wheels, used to his creator’s antics.

You had managed to tag Dummy who was trying to reach Tony. “Okay, thanks.” Tony replied distractedly, too busy trying to get out of the bot’s path.

“There are also a total of three messages from Miss Potts regarding the new models.”

“Uh-huh.” Tony effectively managed to dodge Dummy’s attempt by ducking under a table and emerging on the other side. Arm lowered a little in disappointment Dummy eventually took off to try and get Butterfingers. Tony meanwhile stuck out his tongue.

The game of tag went on, filling the air with mechanical whirs, screeches, beeps and Tony’s deep laugh.

“Sir,” JARVIS spoke up again after a while, a mixture of urgency and exasperation in his voice as Tony jumped over a workbench heaped with half-finished pieces of tech, causing the table to tip dangerously before settling back with a rattle of metal. “Some of the projects currently lying around may not take kindly to ending up on the floor.”

“JARVIS, buddy, kinda busy over here.”

Butterfingers managed to tag You who tagged Tony.

“Sir, there is…”

Tony plugged his fingers in his ears while dodging around another workbench. “Not listening.”

“Sir, but…”

“Still not listening, JARVIS.” With his fingers still in his ears Tony now stared off a chant of lalalala.

With that JARVIS told Steve, who was coming down the stairs that there was nothing wrong and that he was sorry to have disturbed him.

Making his way further down the stairs Steve stopped short when he saw two bots zip by behind the glass door, quickly followed by Tony. Curious as to what was going on Steve slowly took a few more steps forwards, trying to stay as close to the wall as possible.

Was he scolding the bots again, Steve wondered? No, he thought after a bit. It seemed, different somehow? And…Tony was…laughing? After a few more moments Steve had to clamp a hand over his mouth to prevent from laughing as he pressed himself against the wall. Were they playing tag? He took another glance inside the workshop. They were!

When Steve finally had himself under control again he glanced up at the ceiling. “JARVIS?”

“Yes, Captain Rogers.” Came the polished reply.

Steve snuck another glance inside the workshop. “They do that often?”

“Occasionally, though you weren’t supposed to see it, no one is.” Despite knowing that he’s just an A.I. Steve could swear he heard some cockiness in that reply.

“Was that why you asked if I had a second, to warn Tony?”

“Yes.”

Steve shifted his position against the wall slightly and crossed his arms, eyes involuntarily going up to the ceiling again. “Then why didn’t you? I mean, aren’t you supposed to, like, obey Tony’s every command?”

“I tried, Sir did not want to listen. I did not violate my protocol in any way.”

Okay, now Steve was absolutely sure that the A.I. sounded cocky. From what he’d gathered over time JARVIS seemed to derive entirely too much pleasure from crossing Tony through loopholes.

For a while longer Steve stayed where he was, watching Tony and his bots play. Only when Tony stood bent over in the middle of the workshop, hands on his thighs and panting did he think it was time to leave. As he slunk back alongside the wall he saw how You and Butterfingers disappeared from view, probably going back to their charging stations or their work. Dummy on the other hand rolled up to Tony, draping his arm over the man’s shoulder and receiving a few pats on the support strut in return.

When Steve reached the top of the stairs he stopped again. “JARVIS?”

“Yes, Captain Rogers.”

“Could I interest you in a deal?”

The A.I. took a few seconds to answer. “What kind of a deal?”

“Well, I’m going to make an assumption here and say that Tony has things he should be working on but hasn’t been.”

“It is as if you know him, Captain.”

Steve couldn’t hold back a snicker at that. “How about this. You don’t warn him when I’m on my way to the workshop when he’s playing tag and I’ll see what I can do.

“Captain, I think we can come to an agreement here.”

ooOOOooOOOoo

The next several weeks were very close to utter chaos to Tony. He called it his genius order whenever anyone dared point it out to him, though. Not only were there the designs for SI’s new line (which Steve had managed to get him started on, Tony honestly had no idea how the man had done it, there was still more than enough time left to finish them, genius and all that), but there were also the Iron Man suits which he needed to repair and improve, seeing as he had wrecked half a dozen of them during a recent attack. They were a good means of distraction when dealing with swarms of puppy-sized insects that gave chase to anything that moved, but it took its toll.

Add to that that Tony had decided that the rate at which SHIELD equipment tended to either malfunction or fail to get the job done was unacceptable and thus had to make everyone new everything. Combined with Tony’s need to get started on something pretty much the moment the idea entered his head the only time he really left the workshop was for Avenger business. Coffee runs didn’t count.

However all of that, usual side projects included, did not stop Tony from taking the time to play with his bots.

True to his word, as Steve had managed to get Tony working on the designs JARVIS did not warn Tony whenever Steve was on his way to the workshop whenever a game of tag was on. After a while the A.I. even went as far as to drop Steve subtle hints whenever Tony was taking a break. For a disembodied voice JARVIS was having way too much fun.

The only time JARVIS ever warned Tony of Steve approaching during a game of chase was when the blond brought Tony food.

With Tony occupied in his workshop and being rather testy whenever anyone spoke to him on the rare occasions he left the place the other Avengers had come to a silent agreement to simply bring him food and avoid the ordeal that was convincing Tony Stark to leave his workshop for mere food.

The Avengers usually took turns although more often than not it ends up being Steve who takes Tony’s plate down seeing as he’s really the only one able to get a decent word out of Tony.

For some reason Steve’s sharp, dry wit and sarcastic comments (almost) always manage to get Tony’s attention. The only other exception is Natasha, but that’s really only because he doesn’t fancy his newly finished prototypes being gutted and left to be found with the knife still sticking out of them.

Steve didn’t really know why he found it so nice to watch Tony and his bots play, though it might have something to do with him being completely carefree for a short while and the genuine laughter resulting from it. It was a part of Tony not many people, if any, knew of, and it felt kind of nice to know that Tony was still capable of it.

Sure, Tony joked and could be absolutely ridiculous at times, but never really like this. To Steve it often seemed as if the things Tony did were more for everyone else than himself, especially when they first all moved into the tower, much like he was trying to keep his distance from them but without being to direct or obvious about it, and really, who could blame him after what had happened.

However, over time that mask seemed to have melted with the growth of friendship. Lessened, but not completely gone, and Steve’s pretty sure that it’ll always be this way, that it’s just part of who Tony is.

As the weeks pass and Steve watches the activities with a grin on his face he realised that, while he’s always liked Tony best in grease-stained jeans and t-shirt with soot stains on his cheeks, hair standing on end from constantly running his hand through it and a spark in his eyes (to him this was the _real_ Tony) he realised that this Tony, with gleaming teeth set in a big grin and a flush to his cheeks, was quite adorable.

ooOOOooOOOoo

It’s Friday and Tony has come to the conclusion that it is statistically impossible for this week to get any worse. No less than three board meetings, two doombot attacks, a plague of genetically enhanced alligators in the sewers and an attempt to kidnap Thor by Lorelei.

As Tony clings to his coffee mug in an attempt to have the heat chase away the ache all over his body he looks around the remains of the communal kitchen and the taped down tarps where the windows were and realises that he really, really hates magic. This tower is a tech only zone.

“Sir, should I point out that, technically, Thor is also ‘magic’, as you put it.” JARVIS’s voice resonates through the wrecked room.

Tony lets out a sigh and takes a deep swallow, not realising he’d been thinking out loud. “Well yeah, but Thor’s not, like, magic magic. He’s lightning and stuff which is electricity, so, technology, really. I mean magic as in weird magic, like, Loki, or Strange or this Lorelei chick magic.”

When JARVIS doesn’t answer Tony can’t help but feel like he’s being judged.

“Oh, I know, they just hate technology, which is why they always want to destroy my tower, that’s it.” Tony says into his mug of coffee, thoroughly annoyed.

“Who wants to always destroy your tower?” Steve’s voice suddenly sounds, causing Tony to look up and watch the man make his way through the ruin and over towards the only piece of furniture still standing.

“Magic users in general.” Tony answers as Steve joins him in leaning against the table. “It’s unfair, you know. With the amount of tech here there should be a natural anti-magic barrier, a barrier of logic. It just doesn’t make any sense, magic. Logic versus chaos, tech ought to triumph anytime.”

“Sir, I believe there are several flaws in that reasoning.”

“Can it, Jay. Next time we’re attacked by a magic used I’ll make sure you end up in the middle, _then_ you can talk.”

“Technically, that already happened, Sir. Several times.”

“I ought to replace your algorithms with those of a docile housemaid. You’re supposed to be on my side. I’m your creator, your lord and master. You should do my bidding with grace and pleasure. Tony was waving his mug as he talked and how he managed not to spill anything was anyone’s guess.

Steve couldn’t do much but try to keep in his chuckle and failing, causing Tony’s eyes to snap toward him. “Sorry.” All it did was cause Tony to narrow his eyes at him.

“No respect do I get here, none at all.” Tony exclaimed. “If you two are going to team up against me go do it somewhere else. As it happened I was in the middle of a perfectly good sulk before rudely being interrupted. I’d like to go back to doing so if that’s okay with the two of you.” By the last sentence the sarcasm was dripping from every word.

“You have to admit, Tony.” Steve started. “It was kind of funny.”

In response Tony just pointed to his face and its exaggerated sad expression before staring solemnly into his mug.

Not sure whether he should just leave Steve stayed where he was. He couldn’t just leave Tony here in the middle of all that rubble. After a few more moments of just standing around Steve slowly made his way over to the other man by creeping alongside the length of the table until Tony was within arm’s reach and tapped him on the shoulder. “Tag.”

Tony just slowly looked up from his mug and stared.

With a shrug Steve says: “Come on, you like tag, I know you do.”

“JARVIS.” Tony said calmly, eyes not leaving Steve who had moved back a few steps and was smiling at him.

“You did not want to listen when I tried to warn you, sir, and afterwards, the Captain proposed a rather interesting deal.” The A.I. stated and Tony was seriously trying to remember when JARVIS had learned to sound so mocking.

“Docile housemaid, Jay. Docile. Housemaid. And you,” Tony had put down his coffee and was pointing a finger at a still grinning Steve. “You are a…a…sneaky sneak and a very bad person. Spying on people is behaviour so not befitting Captain America.”

At that Steve just shrugs. “Wasn’t doing it as cap, just Steve. I just like the way it makes you smile.”

Tony, who had still been searching for more things to say fell silent, mouth opening and closing a few more times before resigning to just staring at Steve with confusion.

“It’s genuine. Not fake like with the press or at times even us. I just think it’s nice, that there’s still something that can make you happy by doing something for yourself. You always do so much for others, so…”

When Steve stopped talking Tony pushed himself away from the table and walked over with determination twinkling in his eyes. “Okay.” He taps Steve on the bicep. “Tag.” And immediately turns around and makes for the other side of the room, injuries be damned.

Neither man knows how long they chase after each other, jumping over and skidding around piles of destroyed furniture, laughing. They do, however, take care to stay away from the not-there-windows.

A slightly too sharp turn and Tony stumbles over what he thinks is the leg of a chair. The sudden change in spatial position jars his injuries more than the game of tag has, or maybe he’s just more aware of it now. He has a split second to think about how much this fall is going to make things worse and the suddenly he’s not falling anymore.

Steve had managed to grab Tony by the back of his shirt right before he went crashing face-down in a pile of rubble. “You okay?” He asks after helping Tony back on his feet.

“Yeah.” Tony breathes out, looking up at Steve’s face. They’re pretty much standing chest to chest and breathing heavily, well, Tony at least, Steve’s breathing seemed to have picked up only the slightest bit. “Thanks.” His eyes meet Steve’s and someone could drown in those he realises.

Neither man takes a step backwards and Steve’s smiling and just when things are about to get awkward Steve simply boops Tony on the nose and hurriedly disappears down the hallway.

Steve makes his way through the hallway and towards the elevator as quick as he can without actually running. Once inside the elevator he slumps against the side and runs his hands though his hair. What the hell? As he had stood there, chest to chest with Tony he had suddenly been overcome with the urge to kiss tony, even just a quick, light peck on the lips. Where the hell had that come from? Sure, things had been fun up until his heart skipped a beat when he saw Tony trip. What would Tony think of him should he ever find out?

ooOOOooOOOoo

As days went by both Tony and Steve not-as-involuntarily-as-they-would-like-to-think avoided each other.

Tony tried to forget about it but somehow his mind always ended up going back to that moment of him and Steve, chest to chest. What the hell had that been? And what the hell had he been thinking? And Steve? Why had he taken off like that? And had he seen it right and had Steve been blushing when he did so?

ooOOOooOOOoo

It’s a while before Tony finally gives in to his bots demands and they play tag again. It takes even longer before Steve goes to watch again but the second time he does Tony notices him.

“Captain Rogers,” JARVIS says, startling Steve. “Sir is asking if you would like to join them.”

For a moment Steve doesn’t know what to say, what to do, but then he sees Tony looking at him from behind the glass doors. Tony’s smile, really nothing more than the minute lift of a mouth corner has all reasons to say no fly right out of his head. “Sure, I’d love to.”

The glass door opens as Steve takes the last few steps down the stairs and he’s barely set a foot inside the workshop or one of the bots, he’s not entirely sure which one, tags him.

From then on Steve often joins Tony and the bots for games of tag. Not only that but as time goes by the two of them try to find as many excuses to spend time together as possible, not admitting anything to themselves ofcourse. From a nice place to draw to wanting to keep the bots company when Tony’s too busy, and in doing so Steve teaches the bots all sorts of little things like high fives or in Dummy’s case how to draw. (And despite how Tony always says it’s a waste of processing power he always hangs Dummy’s drawing on the fridge in the little kitchen area.)

In Tony’s case he likes to call Steve down for heavy lifting, durability testing (super strength and all that), equipment upgrades, and whatever else he happens to think of at that moment.

The two men are absolutely smitten with each other but too emotionally stunted to try and act on it. The other Avengers have a betting pool, including JARVIS.

ooOOOooOOOoo

Being a man in a flying tin can was all fine and dandy up until a whole bunch of heavy explosives blew up in your face and caused you to be buried underneath part of a building. Villains were dicks in reality. Wasn’t the hero supposed to arrive and dismantle the bomb right before it exploded?

Metal was still metal no matter the alloy and extreme heat and weight would cause seams to forge shut and the metal to warp. By the time Tony had managed to get out from underneath the rubble the suit was pinching and cutting him in various places and he had lost both his right boot and gauntlet repulsors. What fun that had been to get back to the tower.

With Thor back in Asgard for a few days Tony had been their sole source of aerial support. Luckily for him by the time he had freed himself the rest of the Avengers had beat the remaining baddies and SHIELD was busy detaining them.

When Captain America had radioed him on the comm. for a status report he had said he was fine and en route to the tower.

Once there Tony realised that he would have to take the suit off manually due to the state it was in. Even more frustrating was when only two of the release caches still worked. “Fuck.” Tony cursed, dropping down in a seated position in the middle of the workshop.

Several moments later, Steve, still in uniform, entered. “Tony?” He asked, seeing Tony sitting on the floor. “What happened?” He hurried over now after seeing the damage to the suit.

Tony nonchalantly moved his free hand. “Got a building levelled on top of me.” He tried to shrug but with lots of the smaller pieces melted together the suit wasn’t quite as flexible anymore. “Think you could maybe help me out a bit? I feel like, well, something canned.”

Looking the suit over Steve quickly noticed the melted seams and started by pulling off the front piece of the helmet, revealing a big cut on Tony’s face caused by the warped metal of the helmet.

“Fresh air, yes, thank you.” Able to properly see again the two of them quickly freed Tony.

“Don’t move.” Steve said while Tony was still pulling of his last boot and he was using his Captain voice so Tony thought it best to actually listen after chucking the boot.

Half a minute later Steve returned with Tony’s first aid kid. Hey, you don’t get to be a genius engineer without cutting up your hands on a regular basis, the thin white lines decorating Tony’s hands were proof of that.

Taking out a gauze pad Steve poured some antiseptic on it and started to dab it along the cut on Tony’s face which Tony hadn’t even noticed was there until it started to sting.

“You really ought to be more careful, Tony, or at least let us know when something’s wrong, okay? I know how you always downplay everything but please don’t. We worry, I worry.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Tony answered.

Steve put away the pad of gauze and grabbed Tony by the chin, forcing his to look him in the eyes. “I mean it, Tony.”

Those bright blue eyes again and they were pulling Tony in and if this was what drowning felt like then Tony didn’t think it was all that bad, as a matter of fact it kind of felt like being kissed and Oh. My. God. Captain America was kissing him and, strangely enough he was absolutely okay with it. It was actually quite nice. Update: really, really nice.

When they pulled back Steve looked sheepish and adverted his eyes while rubbing his neck.  And really, Steve Rogers had the most adorable blush, Tony thought, even his ears go red.

“You know,” Tony started, smirk in place even though he was kind of freaking out on the inside. “If that is what I get for being injured, it’s not going to prompt me to be more careful.”

At that Steve started to laugh and pulled Tony in for another kiss.

ooOOOooOOOoo

Two weeks later Tony was sitting in the kitchen (which the really hoped would last for a while this time) with a mug of coffee and a tablet.

A smile appeared on his face when he felt a pair of strong arms slide around him from behind. Steve rested his head on Tony’s shoulder, looking at what he was doing for a bit before planting a soft kiss on the corner of Tony’s mouth. “Tag."


End file.
